Malaysia

Mahathir’s worries

UNLIKE some of his associates, Mahathir Mohamad, the prime minister of Malaysia, rose to power largely on merit and the quality of his ideas. Since reaching the top, patronage and ruthlessness have helped him stay there. But Dr Mahathir clearly sees a difference between his own brand of “strong leadership” and the dubious practices of others in power. On May 11th, at the annual congress of his party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), he spoke of “greed and corruption”, and asked what had happened to the party's ideals.

Talk about greed and corruption in government is commonplace in Malaysia. But perhaps only Dr Mahathir has the absolute confidence to speak of it in public, even if he is denouncing it: that, after all, confirms its existence. In recent months, he has easily disposed of possible challengers to his leadership of UMNO, the largest party in the ruling coalition, which carries with it the job of prime minister. After 19 years in power, he remains the master politician. That being so, he was hurt when, at the general election last November, many Malays abandoned UMNO and instead voted for PAS, an Islamist party.

It is questionable whether most Malays want the mullahs of Islam to have more influence in their daily lives, at the expense of the pleasures of secularism. Thus the appeal of PAS is a limited, but persuasive, one: it promises honest government. In any event, it is now the largest opposition group in parliament. More significantly, it controls two states in the north-east, Terengganu, which it won in November, and Kelantan, where it has been in power since 1990.

But it is better that I incur the wrath of the delegates here, rather than cause the people to hate UMNO and consequently to reject it. Corruption and greed must be exposed and eradicated.

The wrath of the delegates may not bother the doctor so much as his real enemy, which is time. He is 74 and has said that this will be his last term as prime minister. Many of the people around him, whether or not they are greedy or corrupt, have benefited from government patronage, and will not willingly see it brought to an end. They will hope for a successor who will be tolerant of their sins. Being rich may be a consolation for being hated.

Away from the confines of the party congress, Dr Mahathir was more relaxed as he turned to the wider world, and in particular to his old sparring partner, Australia. In an interview on Australian television, shown this week, he claimed that Australia was acting as a bully to other countries in the region. The Aussies had turned on Indonesia now that it was weak, said Dr Mahathir, presumably referring to Australia's role in leading the intervention force in East Timor last year. And they should not try to teach Malaysians how to run their country. On that, anyway, all Malaysians, whatever their concerns, were probably in agreement.